Teachers’ STEAM competencies for the 21st century: A systematic review
Cheng Jingwen 1 , Riyan Hidayat 1 2 * , Muhammad Zarif bin Hassan @ Zulkifli 1
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1 Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, MALAYSIA2 Faculty of Education, Languages, Psychology & Music, SEGi University, Selangor, MALAYSIA* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The present study conducts a systematic review of teachers’ STEM/STEAM competencies. Following PRISMA guidelines, 28 peer-reviewed studies were retrieved from Web of Science, ERIC, Google Scholar, and Scopus. The review synthesizes major competency domains and sub-dimensions, examines existing competency frameworks, and analyzes the geographic distribution of related research. The findings reveal a strong emphasis on competency classification but show limited empirical validation of existing models and frameworks. Furthermore, this review also identifies insufficient elaboration of arts-related competencies and significant regional imbalances, with most studies concentrated in East and Southeast Asia. Three major gaps emerged: the underrepresentation of arts-related competencies, the limited availability of validated competency models, and uneven regional representation. Existing frameworks frequently combine aesthetic literacy, creative instructional design, and arts-integrated pedagogical practice into a single category. Consequently, professional development programs often emphasize generalized creativity training while neglecting disciplinary arts knowledge and pedagogical practices essential for authentic STEAM integration.

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Literature Review

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 22, Issue 7, July 2026, Article No: em2868

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/18868

Publication date: 29 Jun 2026

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Article Downloads: 15

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